Sales-check holder



R. J. KRAUTHEIM.

SALES CHECK HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6. I920.

1,382,198, PatentedJune 21,1921.

- INVENT 46 Z BY ,L- I? :'.7'

v ORNEY.

UNlTED ?ATENT QFFICE.

SALES-CHECK HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921.

Application filed March 8, 1920. Serial No. 363,727.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, RICHARD J. KnAU'ennrn, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Newark, county of Essex, and tdtate of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sales-Check Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved sales check holder which isadapted for the use of employees of places like restaurants. where it isnecessary, at present, to detach a check -from the holder by graspingthe holder with one hand and detaching a check with the other, thedetaching being usually done by the right hand.

In order to punch the check to indicate the amount purchased, theaverage employee finds it necessary to use the right hand inmanipulating the punch, usually suspended from a chain or string fromthe belt, and in running the hand along' the chain until the punch isreached considerable time is consumed, in addition to the prior waste oftime in transferring the check from the right hand to the left, and thenthe necessary time is consumed in finding, with the punch, the properamount, through which perforation is made.

The present invention is designed to provide a check holder which ismanipulated in the usual way so far as removing or detaching a check isconcerned, but the punch is manipulated by the same hand that holds thecheck holder and is disposed so that no material change in the positionof the hand is necessary, and a great deal of time is thus saved. inaddition to this, the necessity of carrying two separate articles on thebelt is overcome.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whichFigure 1 is a front view of one form of my improved check holder. Fig. 2is a top view of the device shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an end view01 the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2, part of the check punch beingbroken away to more clearly illustrate its construction.

The check holder, which functions as holding a pad or pile of checks,can be of any desired form, but preferably consists of a bottom plate10, on which the plle of checks 11 is placed. Suitably arranged, usuallyon one end, is a structure vertically disposed so that the pile ofchecks 18 held 21 or similar fastening means.

against displacement or loss, the form shown comprising a rear wall 12,an end wall 13 and a front wall 14, thus formin a box-hire casing, oneend of which is opeii to permit the ends of the checks to'project sothat they can be successively grasped and torn off. in the form shownthese checks are torn so as to leave the stubs 15, but any form ofcommercial check can be used. I In order to hold the pile of checks inposition I show a screw 16, which passes up through the bottom plate 10and has a pressure means on the top, consisting of a presser plate 17and a nut 18.

This holder is usually attached to a belt,

one form of such attaching means being indicated by the loop 19, shownin Fig. 3.

Su tablydisposed on the check holder, and in position so that when thehand steadies the check holder to permit the tearing of a checktherefrom the hand is in position to provide for its operation, is amarking or identifying device, thisusually taking the form of a punch,althoughanv other means for indicating on the check the requiredinformation can be used.

The drawing shows a check punch which is supported by means of a bracket20 suitably secured to the front wall 14L by rivets To the bracket 20 issecured a fixed member consisting of a base plate 22 and cheek-pieces23, which are usually formed so as to extend on each side of the bracket20 and to be tastened thereto by suitable pins 24. Pivoted to the fixedmember is a swinging jaw 25, pivoted as at 26 and being held in itsnormal raised position, shown'in Fig. 1, by springs 'i and 28. Thejawhas a suitable projection 29 which fits into a similarly shaped opening30, so as to punch a hole in a check, the cheek-pieces being slotted, asat 31, to permit the insertion, from the front, of a check to bepunched.

Fig. 3 shows the punch in its closed position, but without indicating acheck, but the insertion of the checkand the method of punching are wellknown and need not be described here. 7

A suitable finger-piece 32 is preferably placed on the jaw to assist inpunching without the operator being particular to look where thepunching device can be grasped in order to operate it.

It will be evident that in the use of these devices, the left handgrasps this part of the holder, which is usually to. the left on thefront part of a belt, and the right hand tears or pulls the check fromthe holder,

the projecting punch providing means for hookinga finger of the lefthand around it, so that the pull necessary to tear a check from theholder is V easily resisted. The check is then put into the check punchand the left hand is naturally in position for op-' erating the punch,one or two fingers e3:- tendlng under the punch and the thumb of thelefthand being adjacent to the fingeriece '32 and b s ueezin the lefthand thecheck is punched, the only time lost being the time necessary toconvey the check,

, after it is torn from the holder, to the punch,

and properly placing ittherein. The upper r forward ends of thecheek-pieces are preferably curved, as at 33, to provide for easilyfinding the opening 31 into which the thin check is slid. V

It will be evident that other forms of check unchesor other markingdevices can be used" in lieu of the exact form shown, and

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the particular formshown and described herein.

I I claim: 7

l. A check punch having means on one end for receiving a check to bepunched, and a handle secured to the other end, said ha11- dlebeingiboX-like and adapted to be held 7' in the hollow of the hand whilethe fingers thereof operate the punch, the handle hav mg an open side atright angles to the punch. 2. A check punch having means on one end forreceiving a check to be punched a handle secured to the other end, saidhandle being box-like and adapted to be held in the hollow of the handwhile the fingers,

thereof operate the punch, said punch acting as ahook over whicha fingeris caught to resist the pull when a check is torn from the handle. f I

3. A device of the kind described comprisinga box-like casing open atone side, and a punch proj ecting from the front wall of the'casing,whereby its acts as a hook around which a finger iscaught when thebox-like casing is held in the hollow of the hand, said punch havingmovable jaw operable laterally of the punch so that when the hand graspsthe casing the hooked finger and the thumb thereof are in position tooperate the punch.

4:. A device of the kind described comprising a fixed member having ashelf projecting from the bottom thereof andrhaving cheek pieces at thesides and having a slot between the shelf and cheek pieces for q acheck,- a swinging jaw pivoted between the cheek pieces in the back endthereof, a punch and die means on the end of the jaw and the end of theshelf for perforating a. check, the jaw and also the fixed inemberbeingrecessed in rear of the shelf, spring mounted bracket abutting betweenthe cheek pieces and having means thereon for its attachment to asupport. e

In, testimony that I'claim the foregoing I have hereto set my hand, this5th day of March, 1920. i V

RICHARD J. KRAUTHEIM.

